* The Sunsâ€™ winning streak died in Portland but they hope to keep their home winning streak alive tonight in difficult circumstances.

The Suns have won their past four home games but this will be tougher, considering they are playing the leagueâ€™s hottest team on the second night of a back-to-back set after getting back into Phoenix about 3 a.m. Worse yet, the Suns have not won in this back-end scenario yet this season, dropping all five chances by an average of 19 points (losses by 40 in Detroit and 25 in Miami bump up the average. One of those losses came in this away-home set-up when they lost to Orlando also on a Sunday at the end of the seven-game losing streak, but that was after an afternoon game in Los Angeles against the Clippers.

*The Clippers beat the Suns 117-99 in the teamsâ€™ first meeting this season in Los Angeles on Dec. 8. That was the Sunsâ€™ sixth loss in a seven-game losing streak but they led the game early and trailed by only two entering the fourth quarter, when the Clippers quickly pulled away with an 11-2 start. The Clippers shot 51.6 percent, getting twice as many points in the paint (64 to 32) as the Suns did. It was the most points in the paint and shots (93) the Suns have given up this season. Blake Griffin had 24 points and eight rebounds. It was Michael Beasleyâ€™s first game off the bench and he responded with an 18-point first quarter but was limited to three points in the second half.

*The Clippers have been nearly as good on the road (8-3) as they have been at home (12-3). That sort of balance is reflected in field goal percentage. They have the fourth-best shooting in the league but also keep opponents to the fourth lowest clip. The Clippers lead the NBA in steals and opponent turnovers and the Suns fell into that in Los Angeles, committing 20 turnovers in the game (six more than they average).

* During the Clippersâ€™ 12-game winning streak, they have beaten three teams with a winning record.

* J.J. Hicksonâ€™s recent play will prompt another draft rewind on 2009, when the Suns considered taking him but chose Robin Lopez over him, Roy Hibbert (not really a consideration for the pick-and-roll defense need) and JaVale McGee. Hickson has needed to bounce around with a trade by Cleveland and a midseason waiver by Sacramento to get to this point in Portland but he looks like the high-energy player he was touted to be out of North Carolina State. Hickson posted his seventh consecutive double-double Saturday night for the Blazers, getting off to a 13-point, eight-rebound start in the first quarter against Marcin Gortat. No Blazer has posted seven consecutive double-doubles since Arvydas Sabonis in 1997 but Hickson has been an efficient scorer who is not as strong defensively. All that said, Lopez has been good for New Orleans lately. He had 24 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks on Saturday night and is averaging 18.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in the past three games but it has not stopped an 11-game Hornets losing streak.

*Portlandâ€™s 45-32 rebounding advantage on the Suns was its best of the season. Almost all of that came in the second half, when Portland outrebounded Phoenix 27-16 because the Suns missed 27 shots to the Blazersâ€™ 17 misses. Phoenix was outscored by 12 in the second half despite taking 11 more shots and never giving up a point off a turnover. Goran Dragic had an 0-for-6 second half, including the shot to tie at the end of the game, and Markieff Morris went 1 for 6 while Luis Scola did not return for the gameâ€™s final 17 minutes. A 3-pointer was the worst shot for the Suns to need at the end of the game because they had not made one since Sebastian Telfairâ€™s 3 in the middle of the second quarter.

*The last word goes to Jared Dudley, who was among the players who had a look at a 3-pointer and a chance to call time out before Dragic missed one to tie with three seconds on the last possession: â€śWe had numbers. It was basically a three-on-two and Goran had the ball, attacking. Batum did a good job playing in between both. He decided to go to Shannon Brown and kind of left Goran open for a split second for a wide-open 3. Goran flipped it to me and Aldridge did a good job closing out. I tried to go by him and then we were in scramble mode. After that, we didnâ€™t really get a good look. Maybe we should have called time out but I think if we would have done it right the first time, we had a good, open 3 with Goran. Once you see the film, you know you have to shoot that ball.â€ť

Tweetinâ€™ at www.twitter.com/paulcoro

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